The Harvard University scientist accused of smuggling frog embryos into the United States was slapped with additional federal charges Wednesday as she faces the possibility of decades in prison for allegedly failing to disclose the biological materials. 

Russian-born scientist Kseniia Petrova, 30, was indicted by a Boston federal grand jury on one count of concealment of a material fact, one count of smuggling goods into the U.S. and one count of false statement. 

Petrova, a scientist studying cancer research at Harvard, was initially charged with smuggling last month and will remain on pretrial release despite the new charges. 

Banners on the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)

Following her arrest in Vermont, Petrova filed a petition seeking her release and was later sent to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. A judge later ruled the actions of the immigration officers were unlawful, with a federal grand jury initially charging Petrova with one count of smuggling. 

If convicted, Petrova faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the smuggling charge, and up to five years in prison and an additional $250,000 on charges of concealment of material fact and false statements.